The field of invention is strip tillage tools, more particularly shankless no-till strip tillage tools for seed bed preparation.
Soil erosion caused by conventional farming methods, such as mold board plowing followed by secondary tillage operations causes significant problems for modern farmers. Conventional farming methods disturb residue left from a previous crop that protects the field from rainfall, especially on sloping lands. Soil washed away by the rainfall results in a loss of valuable topsoil and a corresponding lower crop yield.
In order to reduce soil erosion, conservation tillage farming methods have been introduced. One particularly effective conservation tillage method is "no-till" seed preparation. Tillage, and the resulting erosion, is essentially eliminated with a no-till system. In a no-till system, the crop seed is placed in a narrow strip opened by a no-till strip tillage tool.
A no-till strip tillage tool loosens soil along a narrow strip without creating a trench or disturbing adjacent prior crop residue. The adjacent crop residue provides erosion control and the loosened strip of soil provides a bed for the crop seed.
Known strip tillage tools disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,837, Harden, U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,694, Roggerbuck et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,997, Rawson et al have a shank that displaces soil as the tool is pulled by a draft vehicle. A slot filler mounted slightly rearwardly and adjacent to the shank is necessary to fill the furrow created by the shank to provide a no-till strip. The slot filler and shank are pulled through the soil creating significant drag reducing fuel efficiency of the draft vehicle.
Furthermore, conventional no-till strip tillage tools having shanks tend to leave a trench when pulled at normal tiling speeds of 6-8 miles per hour. To avoid trenching, the draft vehicle must travel at lower speeds than is desired causing the no-till method to take longer to prepare a field for planting than other methods. The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the above.